Presidential candidate Jill Stein visits Chicago, blasts Mayor Emanuel
FOX 32 NEWS - An arrest warrant has been issued out of North Dakota for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, and she's not hard to find.
Stein spent the day campaigning in Chicago, calling herself the better alternative to two unpopular major party candidates. She also took a shot at Chicago’s mayor.
"This is what campaigns should be about, right? This is where the candidates should be, not at their expensive fundraisers,” Stein said.
Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein hardly seemed like a fugitive from justice as she walked the streets of the West Side Austin neighborhood.
On Wednesday, the retired physician and Highland Park native tweeted out a picture of herself spray painting a bulldozer at an oil pipeline protest in North Dakota.
Officials there then issued an arrest warrant against stein for criminal trespass and vandalism. Stein says she plans to turn herself in at some point, but would gladly do it again.
"This is not the first time I have participated in civil disobedience. When you do it you're prepared to be arrested. And you're prepared to stand up for the cause for which you were arrested,” Stein said.
Stein says the real outrage should be reserved for what she calls the big money corruption of the American political system, and says polls show she deserves a place at the upcoming presidential debates.
"We have two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who have the highest unfavorability ratings, and the highest level of distrust ever. So this is a perfect storm,” Stein said.
Stein also blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel for Chicago’s police abuse scandals, closing schools and impoverished neighborhoods.
"There are just glaring injustices that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has managed to look the other way on and actually participate in. So I think Chicago needs new leadership,” Stein said.
FOX 32: Would you vote for a Green Party candidate?
"Yes I would, most definitely,” said Derrick Young. “Because the topics she brought up have a lot to do with the community, a lot to do with police."
Stein will be in Chicago through Friday for Green Party rallies and fundraisers. They don't take money from lobbyists, corporations or super-pacs, and so far have raised a shade under 400-thousand dollars in Illinois, which is just a fraction of what the major parties have raised.
Both of the charges filed against Stein in North Dakota were misdemeanors. The Green Party's vice presidential candidate was also charged.